One thousand years
by thylas
Summary: Alibaba Saluja is a strange time-traveller. [time-travel.]


Hello everyone, it's very nice to meet you! **\\(^v^)/**

If anyone is wondering why the dialogues aren't the same than in the anime/manga, it's because I'm translating it from French (my language) to English. I hope it doesn't bother you.

This story is _gen_.

I hope you will enjoy this chapter, and the next ones too! Feedback would be nice, but I'm not forcing anyone.

 **[1]**

Aladdin smiles under the warm gaze of the sunshine. "Look Ugo, the village is becoming more little and little as we go." He lets himself be moved by the rocking coach. The woman next to him chuckles at his excitement, hugging her daughter to her chest, even though it only serves to dirty her clothes – what with the filth on her daughter's skin.

"Are you going to the next village too?" she asks. Her voice is a little meek, but she still looks strong, as she tightens her grip on her daughter – who wants to run around on the coach. Aladdin nods. "How brave of you to travel alone." Aladdin doesn't understand what she means, and he point at Ugo.

"I'm not alone! Look!" He shows her his flute. It's her turn to not understand, as she tilts her head and looks at him with curious eyes. Her daughter giggles and admires how it shines. Before anyone can add anything, the man with the barrels throws away an eaten apple, while taking a bite of another apple.

"Hey, you… Don't get too excited." His teeth bite once again the apple in his hands. "You're making dust fly around." Saliva slips from his lips to his belly, landing on his clothes. "We're already tight with those brats…" He glares at the driver. "Can't you do anything about it?" he .yells angrily.

The blond driver offers a sheepish smile. "I'm really sorry, sir." Aladdin blinks as he senses a lie in those words. "I swear your barrels are in good hands with me, sir." The man _t'ch_ -s and grumbles under his breath, talking in a loud voice about how precious his wine is. Aladdin ignores his speech, and reaches for the mouth-watering apples. "Wait, wait, wait!" He glances up at the driver, who is sending him a panicked look. He tilts his head in question. "Those are mister's apples; they're not for you."

"Eeh?" Aladdin glances sadly at the apples. "But I would like some of those!" He can sense the man glaring at him from behind him, but he stays focused on the driver. The teen sighs, and gets up. He disappears for a moment beside the cargo, and comes back with two baskets of apples. He hands the largest to the man, and hands the smallest to Aladdin and the woman with her daughter.

Rukhs are dancing around the kind teen.

"This is the only one you will get," he warns as he sits once again. The teen glances at Aladdin from behind his shoulder, and offers him a warm smile. Before Aladdin can return it, the teen turns around and gets back to his task.

The trip becomes calm for a while again, and only the occasional complains of the fat man and the sounds of the coach rolling on the sand disrupt the pleasant silence. As soon as Aladdin has finished eating some of the apples – leaving the rest to the woman and her daughter – he jumps forward to sit next to the driver. The two are silent for some time, and Aladdin can easily be pleased with just that, but he is interested in the blond teen, so he addresses him.

"Hey mister," the teen looks at him, "why are you working as a driver?" He knows that his question may seem weird, but he doesn't mind. He's curious about this new world that has just been opened to him; even what he has read in books doesn't make honor to what he has seen until now. To say he still has so much to discover… It truly is staggering.

"I need money." Aladdin nods, even as he doesn't understand why money is so important. "Oh, but I guess it doesn't really matter, as I'm going to explore a Labyrinth as soon as I can." Aladdin blinks up at him, and his incomprehension must be obvious on his face, as the blond only has to take one look at him to notice it. "You don't know what Labyrinth are? Labyrinths are mysterious buildings that suddenly appeared fourteen years ago. Inside, you will find treasures and power; it is commonly known." There is a beat of silence. "Say, have you never been outside?"

Aladdin hesitates, but in the end, he grins at the blond teen. "I arrived in the outside world some weeks ago," he admits. He remembers Ugo telling him that he was the only one to grow up like that, but he doesn't think it is that special or weird; he doesn't think it really matters.

"I see." Again, the blond teen glances at him. "You don't understand how money works, do you?" Aladdin scratches the back of his head sheepishly, and delights in the sound of the teen's laugh. "Well, I'm not going to explain the value of every coin and bills; with money you can have a lot of things: a house, animals, domestics, food, hobbies. You can do a lot of things." He gives a small laugh, and glances at Aladdin. "You can even get women."

"Uwah!" Aladdin drools at the thought of women; beautiful, kind and soft women with big breasts. "Beautiful women!" he cries happily, throwing his two hands upward in celebration.

Once again, the teen's heartwarming laugh resonates. "Yeah, beautiful women," he repeats. "Do you like women, Aladdin?" He nods frantically.

They fool around a little more, until Aladdin catches something in Alibaba's words that bothers him. "Say, how do we do it concretely?" The teen stops in his gestures, and stares at him in (what seems like) shock, red slowly tainting his cheeks. He fumbles with his words, and Aladdin is sure he would have continued for a while if it wasn't for the woman behind them giggling.

"It's fun to be around the two of you." She caresses her daughter's hair. "My daughter loves listening to stories about Labyrinths." True to her words, her daughter is looking at them, eyes wide in amazement, and lips quirked up in joy. The woman whispers sweet words to her daughter, still brushing her hand through her hair lovingly.

Aladdin's eyes soften at the sight, and he can sense the teen doing the same.

The sweet and joyful moment is broken by the fat man's loud exclamation of mockery. "T'ch! What a stupid dream," he spits out in the teen's direction. "Exploring a Labyrinth is a dream worth a cockroach's. Right, driver?" He bites in his apples again, saliva dripping through his lips disgustingly. The blond teen is silent for a little while, but eventually, he says, "Of course, sir." The man continues; "You are only a little bug; your life will forever be without interest, right?"

The teen smiles – it is obvious to Aladdin's eyes that it is a fake smile, and Aladdin can only admires his strength, he is sure that if he was in his place, he would have defended his dream with all his power. "Of course, you're right sir." Nothing is said, as the coach falls into silence once again. Aladdin can see the teen's hands tightening around the reins.

Suddenly, the coach is thrown on its side. Cries of panic – from the passengers _and_ the camels – echo through the empty desert, and Aladdin can see the coach in front of them suffer the same treatment. His head hits the hard wood, and he groans in pain, but doesn't dwell on it. He looks to the side, and pales at the sight. An enormous hole has appeared in the sand, a flowery-like monster with slimy tentacles is in its center.

The woman lets out a cry of shock and fear, and hides her face behind her hands. "What is that thing?!" she yells. Her eyes are wide and her lips turned into a silent cry.

The teen rushes to push them out of the coach. "It's a 'hyacinth of the desert," a carnivorous plant!" Before he even finishes explaining, they have gotten out, and the camels have gotten up and are running to join them. "Don't fall in the hole, or you'll be eaten! Get away from it!" Aladdin takes a few steps away in precaution.

"Hey, you!" The fat man doesn't take notice of the teen's warnings, and rushes to take his barrels of wine. ""Help me get my wine!" He already has two barrels under his arms, and he is jogging to take them away from the hole, even if he is out of breath as soon as he has taken two steps.

The teen frowns at the man, but still takes a few steps forward. Aladdin guesses he is hesitating. "Ah!" He suddenly reaches forward. Aladdin doesn't understand his precipitation until he takes a look himself – his breath is almost cut off in surprise – and sees the little girl at the edge of the hole. He reaches forward as well, even as he knows that he can't help alone.

Neither of them is fast enough, and the little girl falls.

Aladdin freezes. He can see the little girl's mother doing the same – her face pulled into horror – but the teen doesn't stop moving, and instead, he grabs two barrels of wine, ignoring the fat man's protests, and jumps to follow the falling little girl. Aladdin and the woman both scramble to see what has happened, and their eyes grow wide in surprise.

The kind, brave, mysterious – he can't find enough words to describe him – teen throws the two barrels on the hyacinth, freezing it, and jumps to rescue the little girl. He is fast, and he manages to get the little girl out of it. He climbs up to join them and hands the little girl to her mother. Aladdin lets out a breath of relief, and loosens his hold on Ugo's flute.

"You…" Everyone turns to see the fat man growling, his face red in anger as he points an accusing finger to the savior. "You brat!" He pounces on the teen, pushing him back in the pit with a cry of rage.

Even as he falls back into the hyacinth's mouth, the teen doesn't make a sound.

The rest of the hyacinth's attack is blurry to Aladdin. He remembers falling on his knees, peeking inside the pit to see the teen's state; his eyes hardening, as he sees him struggling to breath. He recalls trying to call upon Ugo, and his flute being too full of sand to be of any use, and then he recalls using his turban to throw the barrels of wine to the plant. He can still picture everyone's relieved faces as the teen is safe – even as wet with the plant's saliva-like mixture.

The teen thanks him, and helps him out of the creature's range of attack. In no time, the coaches are back on tracks, and the fat man – who fainted when Aladdin threw his wine – is laid down in the coach, next to the mother and her daughter, who both are extremely grateful. Aladdin sits down next to the teen, swinging his legs happily. He smiles at the blond, who returns it warmly. "I didn't ask before but," he turns to look at the taller teen, "what's your name?"

The blond grins at him. "Alibaba."

"I'm Aladdin." He smiles; a new friendship is born.

 **[2]**

Aladdin wakes up to find himself in a pair of warm arms, against a chest. He looks up to see the sleeping face of his new friend.

Alibaba's hair is tickling the back of his neck and touching the red collar around his neck – he takes a moment to admire its golden color, it reminds him of the sunshine. An arm is draped over Aladdin's shoulder, while the other is laid under his head, lost in the mess of long blue hair. The teen's skin is milky, but tanner than Aladdin's. He is wearing a white clothe – Aladdin doesn't know its name – that reaches his knees, and he can see a strange drawing in between his shoulder and his neck. It reminds him of the star on his flute. The sheet Alibaba had laid upon their shared bed has fallen off, but since it had been a warm night, so neither of them had been really cold.

He still finds it unbelievable that this man, this teen, this boy, became his friend so easily, with just a basket of apple and a carnivorous hyacinth. Alibaba seems to shine – in every sense of the word –, when he speaks, when he fights, when he walks, when he runs, and, he shines the most when he smiles; a bright, warm smile that makes Aladdin want to cry – tears of happiness. And he can't believe this; because Alibaba looks like a Rukh, he looks like he was made of Rukh, from the head to the toes, and it makes Aladdin's cheeks as he can't stop smiling. He deserves so much more than what he has right now – not talking about the material side. He deserves friends and family – it looks like Aladdin is Alibaba's first friend, but that can't right, Alibaba seems to attract every kind of people.

Alibaba is a human made of light, life and happiness.

Aladdin blinks out of his thoughts, smothering down the frown on his face. He rolls out of the made-up bed, groaning when he hits the floor in a loud noise. He gets up and rubs his aching side. "Hmm…" He looks up, afraid that he had woken Alibaba up unwillingly. "Aladdin…?" He cringes and laughs sheepishly when his friend's eyes fell on him. "You're awake already…?" The taller teen sighs and rubs his eyes sleepily. "Isn't it too early for this…?" Aladdin laughs sheepishly again. His friend gets up, his hair still sticking out in a mess. "Ah, never mind then. Can you wait a little? I'll get us something to eat." Without waiting for a reply, he walks to the other part of the room.

"Sorry Alibaba, I didn't mean to wake you up." Alibaba waves away his apologies with a wave of his hand. As he looks at what Alibaba is doing, Aladdin's jaw drops at the big crate of apples, and his mouth water. "I-is that…?" The blonde looks at him with a questioning tilt of the head, but he doesn't falter in his movements as he hands him three apples. "Thanks!" Aladdin bites one of the apples, relishing in the sweet juice that suddenly fills his mouth. "It's good!" Alibaba smiles at him, and bites into an apple.

Alibaba chuckles and ruffles his hair – in a loving manner. "If you are still hungry after those, you can take some from the crate." He quickly finishes his apple, and walks to the other room – the bathroom if Aladdin remembers well – after getting his day clothes. "I'm going to change; call me if you need anything." He sends one last smile at Aladdin before disappearing behind the door.

Aladdin watches him go, still eating his apple. He wonders if they're going to the Labyrinth today.

 **[3]**

Morgiana stares at her broken chains, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. The little boy with the flute smiles at her. "Now you can walk without hiding your beautiful legs," he says simply, and she can't help but blush. She looks around a little, feeling the faintest of panic rising inside her chest as the people who have seen her chain break look at them in silence, before a loud cry echoes and a man – a rich one if she remembers well – arrives and yells at the little boy and the blond teen.

The blond teen sighs and crouches to face her, blatantly ignoring the man. He takes her hand, she lets him do it because she's just a slave; she can't fight back – are they going to hurt her? – and she's afraid of what's going to happen to her. To her surprise, he only helps her up. With one glare at the man, the blond teen manages to shut him up. Then, he gives a look to the little boy – who seems to understand something as he nods – and they both run away, toward the big building that leads to the 7th Labyrinth. It wouldn't had bothered her had the blond teen let go of her _hand_.

(From the corner of her eyes, she notices a little bird – a butterfly? – fluttering its wings on the blond teen's shoulder. She doesn't have the time to wonder about it until later, when she has friends waiting for her, and she doesn't know what it is until much later, when she discovers what Rukhs are. And then, she thinks about his face at that time, and feels her chest warm up at her friend's motivation and kindness.)

She can hear cries from behind them, but she doesn't even have the time to look as she is pulled along with the two boys in the Labyrinth's entry. It hurts and seems to tear her apart, but the teen doesn't let her go – he doesn't let go of the little boy's hand either. She finds comfort in the warm hand, even if begrudgingly. The three of them are in a weird space; golden, red, dark and bright, and suddenly, they're watching a large orb. It's shining, looking as if it's on fire, with large rocks flying around and bright beams of light coming from everywhere. Her eyes burn from the bright light, but she can't close her eyelids. She's afraid, but she's also reassured because there are people with her – and she can't believe she's thinking that, because what have those people done to her? they kidnapped her.

Suddenly, she's pulled – along with the other two – toward the orb, and her consciousness fades away before she can even try to protest and resist.

Morgiana wakes up a start, jumping out of the water she's in. She looks around, panicked to see she's alone – but does she really want to be with those other two?, she's not sure. Under her, there is a strange star made of two squares craved into the stone. She stares at it for a few seconds, her mind still trying to catch up with what is happening, when footsteps echo from her right; she turns around.

"Oh, you're finally here!" It's the little boy; he's jogging toward her with a big smile. She notices the blond teen behind him; he also smiles when he sees her watching. There is a beat of silence, as she struggles to stand up, still feeling weak from entering the Labyrinth. The little boy watches her, confusion written all over his face – he doesn't seem to understand that she distrusts them. "Are you… Are you alright?"

"Who are you?" she grits out, glaring at them. She's sure they're not royalty, and even though Jamil isn't here right now, there's no telling what he will do when he discovers she let herself be pulled along two foreigners. "What do you want from me?" The little boy blinks, as if not understanding what she means. The blond teen looks at her silently, and Morgiana is suddenly reminded of Goltas and his constant silence, with his only eye always watching, seemingly judging her. Suddenly, his eyes soften, and surprisingly it isn't pity in his eyes – she would know, she often was pitied.

He steps forward. "I'm Alibaba, and this is Aladdin." He gestures at the little boy, who smiles again and waves his hand at her. "We are sorry if we frightened you, it wasn't our intention." He too offers her a smile; it seems genuine. "Would you like to come with us?" She frowns, and shakes her head. "Why not? Are you planning on staying here forever?" She doesn't answer, her frown deepening. He sighs, but his smile doesn't disappear. The little boy looks at him with confusion. "What are you afraid of? It doesn't matter to us that you're chained or not. You're still a human, with feelings and thoughts. I know it may seem weird, as we barely know each other, but I– we will protect you."

Morgiana almost chokes, and looks up in his eyes; they're full of determination, their color hardened into deep amber orbs. She wonders, how could he say that so easily? How could he know what it felt like? How did he know about her chains? "You know nothing…" she grits out, "about the life of a slave!" She glares at him with all the furry she can muster. The little boy seems to catch on what's happening, because his eyes deepen too.

"Maybe," the little boy – Aladdin was it? – says. "Would you like to tell me about it then?" The request is so simple, so pure and so innocent; Morgiana has trouble acknowledging it. This kid is too young and innocent to understand, she decides. She shakes her head, which immediately seems to sadden the little boy as he simply smile. "Maybe not now… Later then?" He tilts his head to the side, a sad frown forming on his face.

Morgiana can only nod weakly. It feels as if her chest is burning.


End file.
